What’s in Your PR Survival Kit?

Lauren Hannaford

Earlier this year, I had a jam-packed day of meetings – four consecutive meetings in different locations to be exact. As I left the office the evening before, I failed to put some key items in my bag. These items were pretty standard office supplies – a notebook for taking notes, a few client folders and a pen. When I arrived at my first meeting the next day, I realized I had paid no attention to what was in my work bag, or purse for that matter, and had to borrow a piece of paper and a pen from my co-worker. I always have at least one pen somewhere, but this particular morning was a preparation #fail!

This may not seem like a big deal at all. It’s just a pen and a piece of paper after all. However, not being prepared with even the smallest of details can completely throw off your day and even your meetings. So, what do you pack in your work bag to make sure you’re prepared for the day?

Here’s a list of items that may seem obvious, but in the grand scheme of being prepared, could be critical to your day:

 - A pen!

- A notepad!

- Your computer

- Computer charger (or an extra)

- Phone charger

- Breath mints or gum

- A camera of some kind

- AP Stylebook (if you don’t subscribe online)

- Business cards (if you still use those)

- Online passwords (I recommend the Dashlane password manager)

Another way to look at this is to examine what your “etiquette” survival kit should look like. Now that you’re prepared with the tangible tools you need to get through the day, are you prepared with your best manners and attitude?

- A smile

- A professional, happy voice

- A great handshake

- Knowledge of how to 

  properly introduce

  someone or yourself

- Quick response time

- Willingness to go the extra 

  mile

- Willingness to jump in and problem-solve

- Poise when faced with a difficult 

  discussion

- Ability to accept criticism and feedback

- Ability to listen well

What do you include in your PR survival kit? Comment below.

Writing Advice: 5 Ways to Increase Readability and Efficiency of Your Writing

Sarah Lichterman

On average, I spend about 70 percent of my workday writing. This makes efficiency very important if I want to be productive. Whether it’s an email, press release, social media or website copy, to name a few, it’s important to write clearly in order to hold the attention of your audience and maintain readership.

Jim Dougherty, blogger at LeadersWest, cites the book “What Makes a Book Readable” by William S. Gray and Bernice Leary in this post on Ragan.com to explain the four important aspects of readability: content, style, design and organization. Below are the top five tips (in no particular order) that I learned from this post that have helped make my writing more efficient and, in turn, improve readability. 

Write for an audience of seventh-grade readers. In the world of PR, writing is the most popular form of communicating your message to various audiences. So, why complicate your message in order to make audiences understand it? Most people will skip over words they don’t know or stop reading altogether, so try to avoid that by using easy words, shorter sentences and fewer adjectives, adverbs and jargon.

Make sure your transition between ideas makes sense. When trying to write more efficiently, it’s easy to cut out parts of an idea that you may think are assumed, when they are needed for your message to make sense to someone unfamiliar to the topic. An easy way to make your transition more cohesive is by utilizing your anchor word. Here are several techniques you can use to do this:

• Repeat the anchor word from one sentence to another.
• Use a synonym or antonym of the anchor word.
• Reference the anchor word using a pronoun or other pro-form.
• Utilize a word that is commonly paired with the anchor word.
• Write in a parallel sentence structure.
• Connect sentences or ideas with conjunctions such as because, and, but, so, or, etc.

Be mindful of the platform you are using. Don’t start every writing assignment with the same state of mind. Take a few moments to think about the appropriate structure of your writing for that specific platform. Next, I suggest thinking about your audience, then your message. For example, a press release and email pitch are similar. However, you need to be aware of the expected writing rules and behaviors for each – such as length and tone - to clearly communicate your message.

Use simple fonts. I love the Papyrus font. I am probably one of the few. However, that does not mean I use it often. I like it because I think it looks cool – a terrible reason on which to base a decision of a font choice for work. Be kind to your readers and choose a readable font such as Cambria, Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica. Also, pay attention to font, background colors and font size, especially for digital communication.

Emphasize important elements with a structured layout and design. In the age of short attention spans, reading one page of pure copy can be painful. Break up your writing by using headings, italics and bold lettering. Also, use bullet points and numbered lists when able. Most readers skim through documents, so having structural elements can help them navigate quickly through your writing without missing the important parts of your message.

In conclusion, it is important not only to think about who your audience is, what your message is, where it will be seen and why you are communicating it, but also to think about how your readers will receive the message. Readability is the answer, and efficient writing is the key to successful communication.

Are we providing value?

Kerri Guyton

There is so much that we can do for our clients. We provide a variety of services from strategic communication counsel and planning, media relations and crisis management to social media strategy and implementation, content creation and advertising/marketing counsel. And, which services we provide depends on the specific needs of the client. However, when we are contracted under a limited retainer, we must focus on the services that provide the most value. That value not only varies by client, but it can sometimes be challenging to figure out, and every once in a while, impossible to provide.

What Clients Want vs. What They Value

We’ve learned that sometimes what clients want and what they value are two different things. Some clients think they want us to take on their social media efforts when in the big scheme of things, social media doesn’t have an impact on the company’s sales or growth goals. It’s just something they feel like they “have to do,” so it actually provides little value to them. Our time could be better spent creating a strategic communication plan focused on increasing awareness of the company in targeted markets or with specific audiences.

We mostly learn about what the client values by listening and asking the right questions. A seemingly random comment in casual conversation can sometimes be the golden nugget that tells us more about the client’s vision than anything he or she actually says in a business meeting. Once we identify those “nuggets,” we can focus our efforts on producing results in those specific areas. That’s when we provide real value.

The Time Crunch

No matter how much you try to cram into a day, you will never have more than 24 hours. Similarly, in the world of retainer contracts, there is only so much we can accomplish within the agreed upon hours. And while Obsidian is known for sometimes giving more in order to get the job done in the best way possible, our team rosters are booked in a way that doesn’t allow for overage as a norm. Otherwise, other clients suffer and our team doesn’t sleep. So, we have to be focused on the best use of our time within each client retainer.

There may be 30 hours of work per month that can be done to meet the overall goals of the retainer, but if we are contracted for 10 hours, then we must focus on the most impactful one-third of that list each month. Like the new GEICO commercials say, “It’s what you do.”

When the Value Just Doesn’t Add Up

Sometimes, the value that the client is looking for just can’t be provided from our list of services. Often, this is the case for a client looking for an immediate uptick in sales or one who is itching to be in the news without a timely, newsworthy story to tell. We often say that PR is a marathon, not a sprint. So, if a business is failing due to rapidly declining sales and hires us as a “last-ditch effort” to turn sales around over 30 days, that owner most likely will not see value in our efforts. Increased awareness or a change in perceptions about a brand or its product can’t necessarily be done in the first month of the retainer.  And, we know that changing perceptions about something – such as a product that used to be hot and for some reason or another is now not - takes time. So, given the appropriate amount of time to research perception, identify target audiences and craft impactful strategies and tactics, PR can certainly help “turn a company around” – it just most likely won’t happen in 30 days. 

It can be so easy to get caught up in executing all of the things that need to be done on any one account because we know that all of it will make a difference to the client – especially when many of our tactics are things that weren’t being done at all before they hired us. However, we must question whether what we are doing is really providing the greatest value for our clients. If it’s not, then we may not even get the chance to see the fruits of our labor. When budgets get cut, those line items that don’t provide tangible value are the first to go. We always want to make sure that PR is something a company can’t let go of and is valued just as much as a great attorney or accountant.

The Greatest Public Relations Firm in History

Sarah Burgess

Disclaimer: Before we begin, I just wanted to clarify that the views presented in this blog post are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Obsidian Public Relations.

When I was in college and finally made the switch from landscape architecture to communication (who knew landscape architecture had so much math?), my first class in the Department of Communication was Introduction to Public Relations. On the first day of class when our professor was giving us a brief overview of the course, he said something peculiar that has lingered in my mind ever since. In so many words, it went a little something like this:

“So, you have a tour of events coming up and want to get the word out to as many people as possible – let’s say one-third of the global population. That’s a lot of pressure, so what are you going to do to get your message to the masses? Oh, I forgot to mention that you can’t use social media, advertising, websites, media relations or any of the main ways that knowledge is spread today. You’re only tool is word of mouth. Things just got pretty complicated, didn’t they?

Photo Courtesy to Flickr User Omoo

Well, that’s precisely what a group of gentlemen successfully achieved nearly 2,000 years ago! That’s right, Jesus had the best PR firm in history – the 12 disciples.”

Since that day, I haven’t been able to shake that analogy from my brain. These men made advanced preparations for his visits to towns and prepared the masses for the coming of Jesus (among so many other things). That’s some pretty intense event planning and PR! I mean, think about it – in their relatively short time with Jesus (he was 30 when his ministry began and 33 when he died), his disciples managed to spread a message and create a ripple effect so radical that it STILL makes headlines!

Whether you are a believer or not, you cannot deny that he certainly had some of the best PR assistance the world has ever seen. After all, because of the hard work and dedication from these simplistic storytellers, there are roughly 2.18 billion Christians today. With results like that, it really puts into perspective just how important PR can be for the success of an awareness campaign.